Marketing Tactics

Princeton, N.J. -- Heartland Payment Systems has filed a federal lawsuit against Mercury Payment Systems, charging the company with false advertising, unfair competition, intentional interference with contractual relations, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, alleges that Mercury is illegally competing against Heartland with deceptive trade practices.

North Plainfield, N.J. – A majority of store managers (57.3%) said holiday sales met or exceeded their expectations during the 2013 holiday season. However, according to the post-holiday "Retail Sentiments Survey" from retail real estate services firm Levin Management, mid-December was the busiest time according to 26.9% of store manager respondents, followed by the weekend before Christmas with 24.4%.

Wayne, N.J. – Toys “R” Us is launching a nationwide in-store and online awareness campaign encouraging its customers to support the athletes participating the Special Olympics. Starting Feb. 1, by texting "Cheer" to 80888, customers can make a $5 donation via their mobile device that will help Special Olympics athletes.

Chicago - An overwhelming majority (89%) of moms are regularly influenced by coupons to try new food and drink products. Conducted by online community Womensforum.com, the "Womensforum.com Supermarket Moms Survey" of 2,200 moms also finds nearly half (49%) of grocery-seeking moms see it as a frequent occurrence.

The opportunity to win a $100 gift card and appear in a television commercial is being used by Meijer to entice parents to upload photos of their kids to the retailer’s Facebook page.

As part of a contest called “Star with Sandy,” Meijer is giving customers until February 6 to submit photos of their kids or themselves when they were young riding a mechanical horse named “Sandy” that can be found at each of Meijer’s 204 stores in five Midwestern states.

Toys “R” Us is launching a nationwide in-store and online awareness campaign encouraging its customers to support the athletes participating the Special Olympics.

Starting Feb. 1, by texting "Cheer" to 80888, customers can make a $5 donation via their mobile device that will help Special Olympics athletes.

Welch's Fruit Snacks have launched Welch's PB&J Snacks, which combines peanut butter and jelly in one treat.

The bite-size snacks have a chewy center made with real fruit, which is surrounded by a peanut butter coating, according to the company. Snackers can choose from four varieties: Concord Grape or Strawberry center and creamy or crunch peanut butter outside.

Samuel Adams is ready to share Rebel IPA with drinkers across the nation. The IPA offers consumers citrus aromas along with piney, resinous notes that come from West Coast hops.

Rebel IPA was one of the first beers to be developed in the Samuel Adams nanobrewery, a small batch, 10-gallon brewery system that operates within the confines of the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery.

Solid volume growth and new product sales in North America helped The Hershey Company regain its category leadership position in the candy, mint and gum business with a 30.1% market share.

The company synonymous with chocolate said its fourth quarter sales increased 11.7% to nearly $2 billion and that sales in North America slightly exceeded expectations due to a solid holiday season.

Overstock said that it’s still adjusting to changes Google made to its search engine algorithms, which reduced the online retailer’s ranking in some search results during some periods. As a result, the company has had to emphasize other marketing channels, such as sponsored search.

Although sponsored search has generated revenue growth for the company, Overstock said that the move also incurs higher associated marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue than it had to pay prior to Google making its changes.